Circuit controller



July 3, 1934. N. J. LUTTRELL CIRCUIT CONTROLLER Filed Oct. 8, 1931 YEN TOR V flrron Em Patented July 3, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 3 Claims.-

This invention relates to a circuit controller adapted to be used more particularly for controlling direction signals for motor vehicles in which a contact member is movable at will into and out of engagement with one or the other of a pair of switch terminals and is temporarily held in its shifted position by electromagnetic means in circuit therewith and controlled by a thermo static switch also in circuit with the electromaglfiinetic means and contact member so that the automatic opening of the thermostatic switch will deenergize the electromagnetic means and thus permit the opening of the signal controlling contacts.

I The main object is to provide means for delaying the opening of the signal control contacts after the latter have been closed manually so as to assure the maintenance of operation of either signal for a greater or less interval of time, and

2o'ialso to allow the signal controlling contacts to automatically open and the contact member to automatically return to its neutral position at the end of said time interval.

One of the specific objects is to control the op- .Ieration of the thermostatic switch through the medium of an electric heater deriving current from the signal circuit and arranged in heat transfer relation to the thermostatic bar so that the opening of the thermostatic switch will be dei pendent upon the heat developed in the electric heater.

Another object is to provide means for prolonging the closing of the thermostatic switch for a greater or less period of time after the thermojstatic bar has been partially deflected toward its switch opening position for the purpose of prolonging the interval of time of energizing of the signal.

Other objects and uses relating to specific parts of the device will be brought out in the following description:

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a horizontal sectional view, partly in elevation, of an electric time switch showing diagrammatically a pair of electrically operated direction signals and the controlling circuits.

Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view taken in the plane of line 22, Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a transverse sectional view taken in the plane of line 3-3, Figure 1.

As illustrated, this device comprises a boxshaped housing or frame 1 preferably of insulating material provided with a cap plate or cover 2 of any suitable material secured thereto by bolts 3 which also serveas a means for securing the housing to the instrument board or any other part of a motor vehicle.

A pair of electromagnets 4 and 4 are mounted co-axial upon a supporting frame 5 of iron or 7 other magnetizable material which in turn is se- 09 cured by screws 6 or other suitable fastening means to the bottom of the housing 1 so that the electromagnets and their supporting frame 5 may lie wholly between the bottom of the housing 1 and cap plate 2. 05

The electromagnets 4 and 4' are provided with central lengthwise openings 7 in axial alinement with similar openings 8 in opposite ends of the housing 1 as shown more clearly in Figure 2 for receiving an axially movable slide rod 9 preferably of iron, steel, or other magnetizable material.

The openings 7 and 8 in the electromagnets 4 and 4 and ends of the housing 1 respectively, are of slightly greater diameter than that of the slide rod 9 to allow limited radial movement of said rod therein for a purpose hereinafter described.

This slide rod 9 is adapted to be moved endwise in reverse directions by hand or at the will of the operator and for this purpose is extended beyond the outer ends of the housing 1 and has its opposite ends provided with suitable handles 10 of insulating material releasably secured thereto as shown in Figure 2.

A collar 11 of insulating material is keyed or otherwise secured to the slide rod 9 between one end of the housing 1 and corresponding end of the magnet supporting frame 5 and upon the inner end of this collar is mounted and electric conducting ring 12 which is movable axially in reverse directions with the rod 9 into and out of engagement with a pair of switch terminals '13 and 13 shown more clearly in Figure 1, said terminals being arranged in longitudinally spaced relation to permit the contact member 12 to assume a neutral position in alinement with the intervening space to avoid contact with either of the terminals.

These terminals are secured to separate binding posts 14 and 14 which, in turn, are secured in suitable openings in one of the upright sides of the housing 1 to extend to the exterior thereof and are electrically connected to separate electric direction signals 15 and 15 having a common ground connection hereinafter described.

These signals 15 and 15 preferably consist of electric incandescent lamps having direction indicators 16 and 16' preferably in the form of arrows impressed or engraved thereon as shown in Figure 1.

Suitable coil springs 17 and 17 are mounted upon the slide rod 9 between opposite ends of the collar 11 and adjacent ends or" the housing 1 and electromagnet frame 5 for yieldingly holding the contact member 12 in its neutral position or in alinement with the intervening space between the switch terminals 13 and 13'.

The conducting ring 12 is connected by a wire to a binding post I: on one side or" the housing 1, while the binding posts 14 and l i for the corresponding terminals 13 and 13 are connected to their respective signals 15 and 15 by Wires 6 and e, the signals being connected by wires ,1 and J" to a common ground 9.

The binding post I) is connected by a wire a to one pole of a storage battery B or equivalent source of electric energy which, in turn, is grounded at g.

It is now clear that when the operating rod 9 is moved axially in one direction from its neutral position to bring the contact member 12 into contact with the terminal 13 the current will pass from the battery B, through wire a, binding post 2), wire 0, contact member 12, terminal 13, binding post 14, wire e, through the signal 15, and thence by wire ,7 to the ground g and return to the battery.

On the other hand, if the operating rod 9 is shifted in the opposite direction to bring the contact member 12 into contact with the terminal 13, the current from the battery B will pass through the wire a, binding post b, wire 0, contact member 12, terminal 13, binding post 14, wire e, through the signal 15 and thence through the wire f" to the ground and return to the battery.

It is, of course, evident that when the operating rod 9 is returned to its neutral position by one or the other of the springs 1'? or 1'7, the contact member 12 will assume a position between and out of contact with the terminals 13 and 13, thereby preventing the passage of current to either of the signals 15 or 15.

As previously stated, the coil springs 17 and 17' serve to yieldingly hold the slide rod 9 and its contact member 12 in their neutral positions with the contact member out of contact with the terminals 13 and 13.

On the other hand, when the slide rod 9 is moved axially in one direction or the other to bring its contact member 12 into contact with one or the other of the terminals 13 or 13, it is desired to hold said slide rod and contact member in their adjusted positions and thereby to energize the corresponding signal for a pre-determined interval of time and to automatically restore said slide rod and its contact member 12 to their neutral positions at the end of said time interval without further attention on the part of the operator.

For this latter purpose, a cross-rod 18 is slidably mounted in suitable bearings 19 on the outer end of the frame with its intermediate portion in close proximity to the underside of the slide rod 9 so that when the slide rod is moved radially to bring its contact member 12 into engagement with one or the other of the terminals 13 or 13' the circuit will be closed through th corresponding electromagnet thereby drawing the adjacent portion of the slide bar radially into frictional contact with the underlyng portion of the cross rod 18 for frictionally holding the slide rod and cross bar against endwise movement.

That is, the openings 7 and 8 in the electro- ,magnets 4 and 4 and housing 1 respectively are sufiiciently larger in diameter than the slide rod 9 to permit the latter to be brought into frictional contact with the cross rod 18 while at the same time the cross rod will be brought into frictional engagement with the lower sides of its bearings 19, the friction between the slide rod and cross rod being sufiicient to hold both rods against endwise movement by the action spring 17 or 17 which is then under compression, it being understood that these springs are relatively light and of just sufficient tension to move the rod 9 endwise to its neutral position when the electromagnets are de-energized.

One end or" the cross rod 18 is provided with a relatively fixed annulus or shoulder 20 and an adjustable nut or stop collar 21, the portion of the rod 18 engaged by the nut 21 being threaded to permit said nut to be adjusted to different positions toward and from the collar 20 to vary the intervening space for a purpose presently described.

Suitable switch bars 22 and 23 are secured at one end to a supporting block 24 of insulating material to extend therefrom toward the cross bar 18 and have their other ends provided respectively with contact members 25 and 25, the bars 22 and 23 being insulated from each other by the block 24 which in turn is rigidly secured to the interior of the housing 1 by any suitable fastenmg means.

The bar 22 is preferably of the bi-metal or thermostatic type adapted to be deflected from a normal position under varying temperatures for opening and closing its contact member 25 in a manner presently described.

The switch bar 23 carrying the contact member 25' is preferably made of spring metal and is tensioned to normally hold its contact member 25 in electrical contact with its companion member 25.

The thermostatic bar 22 is also resilient and normally under greater tension than the switch bar 23 so as to oppose the tension of said switch bar through contact of its member 25 with the member 25.

The free end of the switch member 23 is provided with an opening for receiving the portion of the cross rod 18 between the shoulders 20 and 21 and is normally held against the outer face of the shoulder 20 under the tension of the free end of the thermostatic bar 22 under which conditions the nut 21 will be adjusted or set to leave an intervening space between it and the adjacent end of the bar 23 for partially regulating the interval of energizing of one or the other of the sig nals or 15 as will be hereinafter more fully explained.

A relatively light leaf spring 26 is fastened at one end to the bar 23 and has its other end engaged under its own tension with the inner end of the shoulder as shown in Figure 1, the function of the spring 26 being to feed the cross bar 18 endwise when the slide bar 9 is released from frictional engagement with said cross bar.

That is, assuming that one or the other of the electromagnets is energized in the manner described to cause the slide bar 9 to frictionally engage and hold the cross bar 18, then if the free end of the thermostatic bar 22 and its contact member tends to deflect away from the contact member 25 of the spring arm 23, the tension of the last named arm will cause its contact member 25' to maintain contact with its companion member 25 until limited by the engagement of the free end of the arm 23 with the shoulder 21 on the cross bar 18, thus placing the spring 26 under tension.

Under these conditions, the continued heating of the thermostatic bar 22 in a manner presently described, will cause further deflection of said bar for opening the contact 25 from its companion contact member 25.

This opening of the contact members 25and 25 causes the active magnet to be de-energized which releases the slide rod 9 from frictional contact with the cross rod 18 and allows the active spring 17 or 17 to return the rod 9 and its contact member 12 to their neutral positions and also permits the spring 26 to move said cross rod endwise until its shoulder 20 is again brought into contact with the free end of the spring arm 23 or rather until the contact member 25 is re-engaged with its companion contact member 25 ready for repetition of the operation of closing the circuit through the selected signal.

As illustrated, the electromagnets 4 and 4 are connected by wires h and h to their respective terminals 1.3 and 13' and are also connected by a common conductor 2 to one end of the thermostatic bar 22 as shown diagrammatically in Figure 1.

The switch member 23 is connected by a wire 7' to a binding post is which is secured in one side of the housing 1 and is connected by a wire 9" to the ground and it, therefore, follows that the switch terminals 25 and 25' and each of the electromagnets 4 and 4' are connected in series in a branch or" the signal circuit.

Suitable electric heating coils 27 and 27 are arranged in heat transfer relation to and preferably around the thermostatic bar 22 and are electrically connected at one end to said bar and have their other ends connected respectively by Wires m and m to the corresponding terminals 13 and 13.

That is, the heating coil 27 is connected in a branch of the signal circuit c while the other coil 27 is connected in a branch of the other signal circuit e so that the heating of either coil 27 or 27 will tend to deflect the free end of the thermostatic bar 22 and its contact from the contact member 25' her 23.

member 25 away of the switch mem- Operation Assuming now that the slide rod 9 and its contact member 12 have been shifted axially by hand to bring the contact member into contact with its terminal 13, then the current will flow from the battery B through wire a, binding post I), and wire to the contact member 12 and thence through said contact member and its terminal 13 and binding post 14 to the signal 15 for energizing the latter, the current then returning through the ground wires 1 and g to the battery.

As soon as this circuit is closed a part of the current from the battery will pass from the terminal 13 through wires h and corresponding electromagnet 4 and thence through wire i, thermostatic bar 22, contact members 25 and 25, and switch member 23 to return through the wire y' and binding post It to the ground and to the bat tery, thereby energizing the electromagnet 4 and causin the slide rod 9 to be attracted downwardly by the magnetic frame into frictional contact with the cross bar 18 for holding both bars 9 and 18 against axial movement as long as the coil 4 remains energized as long as the contact members 25 and 25 remain in contact until such contact is broken by the continued deflection of the free end of the thermostatic bar 22 after the free end of the spring 23 has moved under its own tension into engagement with the shoulder 21.

That is, a part of the current from the battery will flow from the terminal 13 through the wire m and coil 27 and thence through the bar 22 and thence through the closed contacts 25 and 25 and switch member 23 to return through the wire 7 and binding post It to the ground or to the battery.

The energizing of the heater coil 27 will, of course, heat the same and this heat will be trans mitted to the thermostatic bar 22 to cause the free end thereof to tend to deflect away from the contact member 25, but owing to the fact that the free end of the switch member 23 is tensioned to move toward the deflecting free end of the thermostatic bar the contact members 25 and 25 will remain closed until the free end of the spring arm 23 engages the shoulder 21 so that the time interval of closing of the contacts 25 and 25 and consequent energizing of the signal is equal to the sum of the time intervals of heating the coil 27 and the time interval of engagement of the free end of the switch member 23 with the shoulder 21.

As soon as the outward movement of the free end of the spring arm 23 is limited by the shoulder 21 the continued heating of the coil 27 would cause a further deflection or" the free end of the thermostatic bar 22 suificient to break contact between the members and 25 thereby breaking the circuit through the electromagnet 4 and allowing the slide bar 9 and its contact member 12 to return to their normal positions by the action of the spring 17 while at the same time the cross bar 18 will be released and will be forced endwise by the spring 26 to re-engage the contacts 25 and 25 ready for a repetition of the operation of the slide bar 9 and its contact member 12 into engagement with one or the other of the terminals 13 or 13' for energizing the corresponding signal 15 or 15.

That is, immediately following this opening of the contacts 25 and 25' in the manner just described, the resultant return of the bar 9 and its contact member 12 to their neutral positions will automatically de-energize the corresponding signal 15 while at the same time the contacts 25 and 25 will remain closed even though the free end of the thermostatic bar 22 may have been deflected materially from its normal position of rest.

Under these conditions it is evident that the deflection of the bar 22 in the same direction may be intermittently continued step by step within its flexing ranges to cause a corresponding intermittent opening and closing of the contacts 25 and 25 by simply shifting the bar 9 and its contact member 12 to its circuit-closing position immediately following each opening operation of said contacts thereby effecting a corresponding intermittent operation of either signal as frequently as may be desired irrespective of the amount of deflection of the bar 22.

It is also evident that, even though the bar 9 may have been shifted to and frictionally locked in its circuit closing position for energizing either of the signals, it may, at any time be shifted to its neutral position or into position for closing the circuit through the other signal without regard to the position of the thermostatic bar 22.

When it is desired to operate the signal 15' it is simply necessary to shift the bar 9 endwise to bring its contact member 12 into engagement with the terminal 13 for causing the energization of the electromagnet 4' and corresponding heater 2'7. Otherwise the operations of the thermostatic bar 22, contacts 25 and 25, spring arms 23 and 26 and bars 9 and 18 are substantially the same as described for energizing the signal 15 It will be noted that this device comprehends three distinctive electric operations, viz.:-energizing one or the other of the signals 15 or 15, energizing one or the other of the electromagnets 4 or 4', and energizing one or the other of the electric heaters 27 or 27, in combination with other parts of the device, but obviously various changes may be made in the detail construction and operations without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. In a circuit controller, cooperative contacts in said circuit, a slide rod operable at will for moving one of said contacts into engagement with the other contact, an axially movable cross rod adjacent the slide rod and provided with a stop shoulder, electro-magnetic means energized by the closing of the slide contacts for frictionally engaging said rod with the cross rod to hold both rods against axial movement, thermally operated means energized by the closing of said contacts for breaking the circuit through the electromagnetic means for releasing both rods, and spring means controlled by the cross rod for reclosing the circuit breaking means when the cross rod is released.

2. In a circuit controller, the combination with an electric switch having an electrically heated thermostatic member deflectable under heat in one direction from its closed position, a spring actuated member maintaining contact with the thermostatic member during said deflection, and movable means for limiting the movement of the spring actuated member to permit the opening of the thermostatic member, of means controlled by said switch for holding the limiting means against movement while the switch is closed and for releasing the same when the switch is opened, and spring-means placed under tension by the movement of the spring actuated member for moving the limiting means in the direction of said deflection to cause the spring actuated member to again contact with the thermostatic member.

3. In a circuit controller, the combination with an electric switch having an electrically heated thermostatic member deflectable under heat in one direction from its closed position, a spring actuated member maintaining contact with the thermostatic member during said deflection, a rod movable in the direction of said deflection and provided with a stop shoulder in the path of movement of and in normally spaced relation to the spring-actuated member for limiting the movement of the latter to permit opening of the thermostatic member, of means controlled by the switch for holding said rod against movement while the switch is closed and for releasing the rod when the switch is opened, and a rod-engaging spring tensioned by the movement of the second member for moving said rod and its stop shoulder in the direction of said deflection to cause the second member to re-engage the first member.

NICHOLAS J. LU'IIRELL. 

